Rounding
out John Eliot Gardiner’s series of Bach cantatas is this new recording
of BWV 106, Actus Tragicus, one of the most moving of Bach’s
cantatas. Gardiner’s Bach cantatas pilgrimage of 2000 did not see a
release of this cantata, though a 1989 recording is available from Deutsche
Grammophon. This stark funeral cantata, written early in Bach’s life,
is moving and profound, and is often one of the first cantatas I recommend
to those new to the genre. Gardiner’s performance is balanced and subtle,
and the soloists are all excellent. There is a fine interplay of the
soloists and small chorus, notably in Heute wirst du mit mir im Paradies
sein, a beautiful arioso for bass and chorus, with a minimalist
accompaniment of organ with viola da gamba obbligato. The entire
work is beautifully embroidered, and the sound here is excellent.

As for the Easter Oratorio, Gardiner says, in the liner notes:
“It has often puzzled me why the Easter Oratorio BWV 249 is sometimes
considered the ugly (or at least forgotten) duckling among Bach’s choral
works.” It is a beautiful work which has all the elements of the larger
choral works, and which reminds me of the Christmas Oratorio.
For a work about death, it opens with a rousing, foot-tapping sinfonia.
At 41 minutes, this is longer than any cantata, but shorter than the
passions.

One of the highlights is the long soprano aria Seele, deine Spezereien,
which, at nearly eleven minutes, is similar in tone to the well-known Erbarme dich of the St Matthew Passion. This one features
flute obbligato and continuo, and soprano Hannah Morrison is
more than competent here. The tenor aria Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer,
at around seven minutes, is also beautifully performed by Nicholas Mulroy.
All in all, this is a very successful recording of this work.

Unfortunately, the way these two works are coupled is detrimental to
BWV106. Just after its melancholy ending, with little silence, the Easter
Oratorio begins, with its bleating horns and sinuous oboe melodies.
With such a change in volume, there should be more time to allow the
first work to fade away.

I’m very much enamoured of Gardiner’s recordings of Bach’s sacred works;
I have all of his cantata pilgrimage discs, having subscribed to the
original releases over many years. This is a wonderful addition to that
series, and if you like Gardiner’s Bach, then you simply must get this.

As
Ronald Brautigam has recently released yet another disc of his complete
solo works for piano by Beethoven, I was tempted to have a look at his
recordings of Beethoven’s piano concertos. Unlike in the solo sets he’s
recorded – Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven – where he plays a fortepiano,
Brautigam plays the concerts on a Steinway D. I was actually disappointed;
I wanted to hear fortepiano recordings of the concertos, and there are
only a few in print.

Brautigam claims that he plays a modern piano somewhat like a fortepiano:
“Whenever I play Beethoven on a modern piano, I try as much as possible
to incorporate all technical aspects of fortepiano playing, i.e. a sharper,
shorter attack, stronger articulation and a dynamic awareness.”

These are also historically-informed performances, and Brautigam says,
“By playing the concertos on modern instruments, a key aspect of historical
performance is missing. However, with a conductor and soloist who are
highly experienced in the period music field, and an orchestra that
is more than willing to experiment with non-vibrato, different ways
of bowing etc., I am convinced that in the end the result will be equally
satisfying.”

One aspect of these recordings that stands out is the sound. “We have
chosen to put the piano, without a lid, in the middle of the orchestra.”
This isn’t quite true; in a diagram in one of the booklets, the piano
is in front of the orchestra, in the centre, with the conductor
between the piano and the rest of the orchestra. “Middle,” to me, suggests
that the orchestra is all around the piano. Nevertheless, it is clear
that there is a different balance, and, at times, this presents some
occasional odd dynamics where the piano is overwhelmed by the orchestra.
Listening in this way is curious; the piano no longer sounds like a
solo instrument, as it’s miked in the center of the orchestra. This
isn’t a bad thing; it’s just different. Aside from the occasional muddy
sounding passages, the recording quality is excellent, and the piano
does have an interesting presence compared to “traditional” recordings.

As for the performances, they are wonderful. With a compact orchestra,
the piano takes more prominence, and Brautigam is as good a pianist
as he is a fortepianist. Tony Haywood went into great detail about the
disc containing concertos 1 and 3 in a MusicWeb International review;
it seems we haven’t reviewed any of the other individual discs, and
he, too, was surprised that it did not feature a fortepiano.

My only hesitation concerns the tempi, which are often a bit fast; the
fast runs at the beginning of the Rondo in Concerto no. 4, for example,
get blurred by the speed. Those tempi carry over to all the concertos,
and you may not want to listen to these works at such fast speeds. As
an example, Brautigam plays the Emperor Concerto in 34:40. Lewis
plays it in 38:50; Brendel, on Decca, plays it in 39:54; Gould plays
it in 42:32; and Barenboim, in his 2007 live recording, 40:43. But I
find Brautigam’s performances exciting; almost breath-taking at times.

The five concertos are presented across four discs, as you can see above.
Only one disc has two concertos; the others have additional works, such
as a piano arrangement of the violin concerto, and so on. Bis should
probably put these four discs in a box set, for those who want the complete
set of concertos. I consider the additional works, which I don’t know
very well, to be bonuses. The four discs together come to just under
four hours, which, even with Brautigam’s fast tempi, is an hour more
than most sets of the five concertos alone.

I’ll quote Tony Haywood’s review one more time: “Overall, it’s very
hard to fault this disc but – and it’s a big one – as a ‘conventional’
performance it does enter an exceptionally crowded field, whereas it
may have become an easy front-runner if period instruments had been
used.” I, too, regret that these recordings aren’t on fortepianos, but
I find myself quite attracted to them. Not what I had expected, but
well worth the listen, if you don’t have too many recordings of Beethoven’s
piano concertos.

Sometimes
when we listen to a recording, and really like it, we search for the
reasons why. Perhaps the tempo and dynamics are different enough from
what we’re used to that we sit up and take notice. Sometimes it’s the
sound of the recording. Maybe in an opera there’s a soloist we really
like. But occasionally, there’s a certain indefinable something that
grips you when you hear a new release of music you’ve known for a long
time.

That’s how I felt when I settled into listening to Paul Lewis’ new release
of Schubert’s Late Piano Sonatas. I’ve heard these works scores of times,
but something about Lewis’ playing on this set connected with me. I’d
heard the first of Lewis’ three recent Schubert releases on Harmonia
Mundi, and very much liked his interpretations of these works. But in
the late sonatas, he comes across as powerful and convincing.

Schubert is one of my favorite composers, and his piano music is something
I’ve been listening to for decades. A recording of his final piano sonata,
the B Flat Major sonata, D960, performed by Maria João Pires, on Erato,
was one of the first CDs I ever bought. I’ve always been fascinated
by this work, by its scale and its subtleties.

What’s interesting about this set is that Paul Lewis has maintained
his style over more than ten years. The second disc was recorded in
2002. Since Lewis decided to focus more on Schubert, they have bundled
it with a new recording of D784 and D958, replacing the one that he
made earlier.

I’m struck by the violence of his playing. I recall that, when Lewis
released his cycle of Beethoven sonatas, one of the criticisms was that
he didn’t play the music with the strength it sometimes requires. (I
disagree; I very much like his Beethoven cycle.) Schubert’s music can
be violent, but it can also be suave and sinuous, and Lewis is able
to modulate his style as necessary, but he certainly doesn’t hold back
in the more lively sections of the music. His approach to the final
D960 sonata is tasteful and energetic, and his sound is excellent, and
for the other three late sonatas, he shows that he can modulate his
energy as needed.

Lewis seems to understand Schubert as few pianists do. Listening to
his recordings of these sonatas, one cannot but appreciate his nuanced
approach to the works. He’s also worked as an accompanist with Mark
Padmore in recordings of the three great Schubert song cycles, showing
that he can be in the background when necessary; perhaps pianists who
accompany singers in Schubert understand the solo piano works more.
After all, all of Schubert’s music is song-based.

In addition to this release, there are two other sets available from
Harmonia Mundi. The first contains the sonatas D840, 859 and 894, along
with the Op.90 Impromptus and the Drei Klavierstücke. The second
set contains the Wanderer Fantasy, the Op.142 Impromptus, sonata
D845, and the Six Moments Musicaux. It’s unfortunate that the
Impromptus aren’t grouped in the same set, as is often the case, but
if you like Lewis’ playing, you’ll want to get all three sets. I haven’t
read that Lewis is planning to record any of the other Schubert sonatas,
so this may be the final set in his series. There’s a total of just
under 7 hours of music, and if you like Schubert, I’d strongly recommend
it.

This
new recording follows fairly hard on the heels of Where late the
sweet Birds sang, music by Parsons, White and Byrd (CKD417);
two of these composers also appear on the new recording, and it’s just
as desirable. It’s becoming monotonous – though I’m certainly not complaining
– to hail the quality of the performances of renaissance music from
Magnificat and Philip Cave on Linn. It’s also unsettling to have to
hedge my bets when recommending established groups such as the Tallis
Scholars and The Sixteen in order to point out that they have so many
rivals now.

The opening work here, Mundy’s Vox patris cælestis, to a text
in praise of the Virgin Mary, with words largely adapted from the Song
of Songs, has been Tallis Scholars prime territory for over 40 years
since they introduced me to a work I had never heard before on their
first recording (1980, Classics for Pleasure, reissued on Gimell GIMSE401).
Subsequently it’s been recorded by Westminster Abbey (Hyperion CDA67704)
and The Sixteen (Hyperion Helios CDH55086, also CDS44401/10,
10 CDs, and more recently on Coro COR16119) and the Tallis Scholars
themselves re-recorded it on Live in Oxford, Gimell CDGIM998).
That’s powerful competition but Magnificat are equal to the challenge
and to that presented by all the music here. Another winner for all
concerned.

Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741) Seasons old and new

From being almost unknown in 1950, Vivaldi now fills a sizeable space
in the catalogue and much of that is accounted for by The Four Seasons,
Op.8/1-4, with, or usually without,. the other eight concertos of Op.8.
A new recording of The Four Seasons alone prompts me to survey
the field:

 Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Kati Debrezeni (violin)
rec. St Jude’s on the Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, 9-10 February,
2013. DDD
pdf booklet with texts of Vivaldi’s sonnets, keyed to the music, included SIGNUM SIGCD377 [41:22] – from classicsonline.com (mp3) or stream from Naxos Music Library

If
you are looking for a stylish and attractive historically-informed performance,
this new Signum recording could be for you, especially if you have always
wanted to follow the sonnets which Vivaldi keyed into the score, marking
with letters where each section begins. That’s the strong point of the
booklet; its weakness is that I can’t see what version of the score
has been employed and that’s important when several modern recordings
use manuscript sources, such as the version housed in the Rylands Library,
Manchester.

The performances are very good without being exceptional, apart from
some unique but apposite ornamentation and some enthusiastic percussive
participation in Autumn. The recording does the performances
justice, even as heard in low-bit sound from the Naxos Music Library,
but there’s one other reservation that I must mention: 41 minutes is
very short for a full-price recording, even as a download. If you’re
prepared to accept a less than ideal bit-rate and no booklet, emusic.com have this for £5.04.

 The English Concert/Trevor Pinnock – the Four Seasons alone on DG The Works for £1.99 from 7music.com or with RV548 and RV516 [56:08] on DG Originals 4746162 – £4.99
from 7music.com. Also as part of a 7-disc set of Vivaldi, with Op.3 and
Op.4, etc. on DG Collectors Edition 4790135 – £15.99 from 7music.com.

 Europa Galante/Fabio Biondi (with RV171 and RV163 ‘Conca’) Opus111 56-9120 [53:06] – from eclassical.com (mp3 and lossless). The short playing time is matched by the price of
$9.56. Also available for streaming from Naxos Music Library and from classicsonline.com for £4.99 if you’re happy with 320kb/s mp3 – but there’s no booklet
from any of these.

 Europa Galante/Fabio Biondi (complete Op.8/1-12 with L’Estro
Armonico, Op.3/1-12) Virgin 6484082 (4 CDs: target price
£11.65). My strongest overall recommendation for Op.8 and Op.3 and at
an affordable price when I reviewed the set in 2010 – here – and still tops for performance quality and value. If you are just
looking for Op.3, 7digital.com offer the 2-CD download for a bargain £3.49 and sainsburysentertainment.co.uk have the complete Op.8 set for £5.99.
There’s little to choose between the two Biondi performances so choice
can safely be made on the basis of price or the availability of the
Opus111 in lossless sound.

 Avison Ensemble/Pavlo Beznosiuk – Linn CKD365 (2 CDs [57:54
+ 56:16] for the price of one: complete Op.8/1-12). SACD or download
from linnrecords.com in mp3, 16- and 24-bit lossless, prices ranging from £8 to £18, with
16-bit lossless at £10 or hyperion-records.co.uk (mp3 and 16-bit only, prices as from Linn). Pdf booklet included. This
is yet another first-rate historically-informed performance at a very
reasonable price and available in lossless sound – see October
2011/2 DL Roundup.

Among non-period performances I am still full of admiration for the
Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Alan Loveday (violin) and directed
by Sir Neville Marriner on Decca Originals 4757531 ([74:12] with
RV535, 498 and 433) – Download of the Month in August
2009. Listen to Loveday shaking the icicles off his violin in Winter and you’ll be sold even if you also have or intend to buy one of the
period-instrument versions. The download seems no longer to be available
in the UK except from deutschegrammophon.com,
where, crazily, the lossless version costs more than the CD, which remains
in the catalogue.

Another version with modern instruments which I used to own on a Vox
Turnabout LP comes from Susanne Lautenbacher (violin) and Jörg Faerber
with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, reissued on Vox ACD8002 with RV256 and Op.3/10 [64:53] and available for £4.99 from 7digital.com or classicsonline.com also strikes a reasonable balance between modern and period practice.
Though they take a slow 3:30 for the opening movement of Winter,
they bring the music effectively to life. Stream from Naxos Music Library.

Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) and Herbert von Karajan with the Vienna
Phil bring some imaginative touches to these concertos on EMI but, like
both of Nigel Kennedy’s recordings on the same label, they pull the
music about too much. Not surprisingly this was the first classical
recording to go platinum. If it’s your cup of tea it comes on EMI/Warner
Red Line for around £5, which is less expensive than any download that
I can find.

Those in search of a real bargain will find a decent set of performances
of The Four Seasons on modern instruments from the London Chamber
Orchestra and Christopher Warren Green on an EMI/Warner Erato download
album 100 Best Vivaldi – over six hours of music for £6.99 from sainsburysentertainment.co.uk.
There’s also orchestral, chamber and vocal music from the likes of Andrew
Parrott, Fabio Biondi and Charles Medlam. The LCO take the opening movement
of Winter absurdly quickly and that’s just one of several foibles,
but the set overall represents excellent value for those whose collections
are light on Vivaldi. Stream from Naxos Music Library.

For a stroll down memory lane you might wish to try the Hallmark reissue
of Karl Münchinger’s first (1951 mono) recording with Reinhold Barchet
(violin) and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. When Decca reissued these
performances on the Ace of Clubs label the Vivaldi bandwagon really
took off and those of us of a certain age first got to know The Seasons in this way. It cost me all of £1.68 from emusic.com to see how Barchet and Münchinger hold up. Oh dear, I had hoped that
it would belie all the adverse comments that I’ve made over the years,
but the very sedate opening of Spring – 3:47 for a movement which
takes around 3:00 in more recent versions – sets the pace. The barking
dog in the second movement seems to have been left completely out of
account.

7digital.com normally ask £7.99 for this, which is too much, but they have currently
reduced it to a more reasonable £3.96 and their version comes at the
full 320kb/s. They also have the later, slightly zippier version from
Münchinger and the Stuttgart CO with Werner Krotzinger as soloist, for
£3.99 – here . By the time of this second attempt the tempo for the first movement
of Spring had speeded up to 3:26 but that’s still rather sedate.

Winter was the most successful concerto in Münchinger’s hands,
even in the first mono version. As time progressed his tempi tightened,
especially for the first movement: 3:47 with Barchet, then 3:34 with
Krotzinger and finally 3:18 with Konstanty Kulik in 1973 on a recording
still available till recently on Decca Eloquence 4674152, which
happens to be exactly the same as on the Loveday/Marriner recording
and faster than Biondi (Opus11) at 3:39, though on his Virgin/Erato
recording he takes 3:11.

If you want to return to the really bad old days and you live in a country
where Naxos Classical Archive recordings are available, try John Corigliano
(violin) and Guido Cantelli with the New York Philharmonic Symphony
Orchestra who in 1955 took a shade over 5 minutes for that movement.

For many of these and other recommended recordings look at the MusicWeb
International list of preferred recordings here.

Dominy
Clements thought Steven Devine’s recording of the Bach Goldberg Variations on Chandos CHAN0780 certainly among the best – review.
He also made a distinguished contribution to the London Baroque series
of Trio Sonatas (see review of BIS-CD-1995 and 2013/7
DL News) so I’m pleased to see not only that he has turned his attention
to Rameau but that this is billed as Volume 1 of an ongoing series.
I hope that means that we shall have the keyboard music complete: Chandos’
1999 recordings with Sophie Yates ran to only two CDs. Volume 1 of that
collection, containing all but the finalMenuet from the new Resonus
recording, is my benchmark for Devine (CHAN0659 [70:59] – from theclassicalshop.net,
mp3, 16- and 24-bit lossless).

It’s hard to choose between the two, in fact. Some of Rameau’s most
imaginative keyboard music imitates birds, like La Poule which
caught Respighi’s attention for use in Gli Uccelli. Devine has
yet to record the suite which contains that but he captures the spirit
of the similar Rappel des Oiseaux in the e minor Suite (track
14). Yates is a little more fleet-fingered, sounds a little more delicate
in this movement and her instrument is a little brighter in tone (track
15) but none of these is sufficient to sway me either way. You can hardly
go wrong with either.

Harpsichord haters will probably prefer one or all of the three recordings
which Toccata have brought us, with Stephen Gutman at the piano. Though
I normally much prefer the harpsichord to the piano in Baroque and early
Classical music, I have been greatly taken by this series from the very
start. Volume 1 (TOCC0050) contains the Suites in a minor and
e minor which Resonus have included in their first volume; I concluded
my review of that CD by assuring harpsichord lovers that they would not be offended.
If anything my ‘test piece, Le Rappel des Oiseaux (tr.14), sounds
even more delicate than from Devine or Yates. The Suite in d minor/D
major is on Toccata’s Volume 2 (TOCC0051), with which I was just
as happy as with its predecessor – review.

I
see that my wish for the appearance of this album has even made it to
Facebook – here – and it’s everything that I had hoped for. Once again Stephen Gutman
makes me become keyboard-blind, with performances that are just as enjoyable
as Steven Devine’s on the harpsichord. Better still, though Resonus
will doubtless also run to three albums, none of the music on Toccata
Volume 3 overlaps with Resonus Volume 1. This is not the sound that
Rameau would have heard or expected to hear but pianism of this quality
is so satisfying that I have no wish to play the period-instrument card.
The recording is very good, too, and the booklet of notes informative.
The Recording of the Month accolade is for the whole series.

If
you don’t wish to invest in the three Toccata recordings but would like
to hear Rameau sounding as natural on the piano as on the harpsichord, Angela Hewitt plays a selection on Hyperion CDA67597 [77:59]
– from hyperion-records.co.uk (mp3 and lossless, with pdf booklet). If anything her touch in the performances
of the Suites in e minor (1724/1731) [21:28], g minor/G major (1728)
[28:21] and a minor/A major (1724) [28:10] is even lighter than Gutman’s.
I’m much more positive about Hewitt in Rameau than Patrick Waller – review.
Both Gutman and Hewitt successfully employ a degree of decoration which
in other hands might well sound unnatural on the piano.

One
other competitor on the harpsichord has just been reissued on Outhere’s
mid-price Rewind series. Céline Frisch performs the Suites in
a minor (1706) [23:10], e minor (1724) [22:39] and G major/g minor (1728)
[31:06], recorded in 2007, on REW514 [76:56], formerly on Alpha134.

The original Alpha release comes with a more attractive cover than the
childish Rewind artwork and with superior information – the track listing
on Rewind fails to distinguish between the 1724 and 1728 Suites. The eclassical.com download of the original Alpha release, complete with booklet, comes
in mp3 and lossless and, at $13.80, is competitive in price with the
Rewind CD (around £8 or 9 Euros from outhere-music.com).
Frisch is a distinguished harpsichordist with a beautifully delicate
touch – see my review of her recording of Bach Keyboard Concertos with
Café Zimmerman, ALPHA168, August
2011/1 DL Roundup – and she can play forcefully, too, when required,
with plenty of life in La Poule, for example (track 21). Her
performance of Le Rappel des Oiseaux (tr.13) is just as enjoyable
as any that I’ve mentioned, but for around the same price in download
form I marginally prefer Hewitt’s similar selection if you don’t mind
her use of the piano.

Just a short confirmation of Dominy Clements’ assessment of this as
something to revive your spirits – review.
One small correction: he gives the time as 71:09, as listed in the booklet,
but it’s actually 63:40. The press download from outhere.com to which
I listened is at just 192kb/s – far from ideal, but good enough to assure
me that the 320kb/s version from classicsonline.com will sound fine.

I
wrongly thought and wrote that this series had ended some time ago.
It was never intended to be as comprehensive as the recently completed
Suzuki (BIS) and Gardiner (SDG) projects or the much earlier series
which Harnoncourt and Leonhardt made for Teldec (now part of the Warner
USB complete Bach) but it is intended to include a cantata for every
Sunday and major festival in the year. Sometimes the choice has featured
a particular time of year but this is a diverse collection, ranging
from Palm Sunday to the last Sunday before Advent. Nor are these works
from the same period of Bach’s creative output: BWV182 was composed
early in his career, in Weimar in 1714, while BWV9 may date from as
late as 1735.

That grumble apart – and Suzuki is not exempt from the same charge –
fans of Sigiswald Kuijken’s smaller-scale approach to the Bach cantatas
will know what to expect. As I wrote in reviewing Volume 15 – here – there is more than one way to perform this music and on the whole
I’m happy with either, except that some cantatas seem to lend themselves
to performance by a larger ensemble, which I felt was the case with
BWV140 on that earlier volume. That isn’t so much the case here, but
one-to-a-part leaves the soloists very exposed, especially when the
recording is so analytical.

As with Volume 15, the singing is good – if not quite ideal, it’s doubtless
a good deal better than Bach would have heard, though there’s also something
very special about hearing boy trebles on Teldec-Warner, as Bach would
have expected. I should also say that while I like the use of period
instruments important for Bach, La Petite Bande sometimes requires a
touch more tolerance than some other ensembles – again the analytical
recording shows up any small oddities. Again, however, I’m sure that
Bach never heard anything approaching this quality of accompaniment.
I don’t want to make too much of these small reservations; I enjoyed
hearing this latest album and if you have heard any of the earlier volumes
and been happy with what you have heard, you should enjoy this volume,
too. If in doubt, try to listen via Naxos Music Library, where you can
also find the pdf booklet.

Eclassical.com is your best source if you want lossless sound. Classicsonline.com
will charge you about the same for mp3 only but they throw in the valuable
booklet – worth having for Sigiswald Kuijken’s detailed notes as well
as for the texts though these are, in any case, easily available online.

The
booklet hails Platti as the father of the classical sonata between Vivaldi
and Mozart. Admittedly that’s a deliberately provocative claim but he
does occupy an important place between the baroque and classical. His
music, composed at the episcopal court of Würzburg, has had a tenuous
position in the catalogue, so this recording of his keyboard concertos
is welcome, especially as it offers a varied programme, including a
delightful oboe sonata – my pick of the music and written for Platti’s
own chief instrument.

The fortepiano employed is a copy of one that would have been contemporary
with Platti’s music. Only the most extreme haters of the instrument
are likely to find it other than mellifluous and it blends well with
the other period instruments employed by Concerto Madrigalesco. I don’t
have any benchmark for this music but I liked the performances and I
don’t think anything better is likely to come along soon. The press
download from outhere.com was at a low bit-rate but sounded fine. Watch
out for 320kb/s mp3 from classicsonline.com or lossless from eclassical.com.

It’s
choice time again: this recording is taken from Naxos 8.550874 where it’s available on CD for around £6 or as a download from classicsonline.com (COL) in mp3 for £4.99 or in refurbished form from 2xHD from eclassical.com for $10.43 in mp3 or 16-bit lossless and $15.64 in 24-bit format, where
it joins the 2xHD refurbishments of other Naxos recordings which I reviewed
last time and several other new ex-Naxos albums.

This is one of a number of stylish recordings of early Mozart which
the NCO and Nicholas Ward made for Naxos – modern instruments played
with a sense of period style, some of which I’ve recommended in past
DL Roundups: for Symphonies Nos. 1-5 and 6-10 see January
2012/1 DL Roundup. The recording sounds particularly well in 24-bit
format.

I’m not sure that the new cover is an improvement on the Naxos original
and I’m sure that mp3 purchasers would be as well served at a lower
price from COL, but the 16-bit from eclassical.com is roughly the same
price at current exchange rates as the CD and the 24-bit is available
for not too steep an extra price.

All
of these offer stylish performances. Back me into a corner, however,
and I would go for Mackerras, whose Linn recordings of the later symphonies
are very special – see below. If you decide to purchase the Ward recordings
in whatever form, why not add Mackerras’s recording of No.14 – four
tracks for £1.68 for subscribers to emusic.com or £3.96 from 7digital.com .

Alternatively eclassical.com have Volume 4 of the Danish National CO/Adam Fischer series: Symphonies
Nos. 12 in G, K110 (75B), ‘46’ in C, K96 (111B), 13 in F, K112 and 14
in A, K114 on DaCapo 6.220539 in mp3, 16- and 24-bit lossless,
with pdf booklet. The short playing time [54:12] is taken into account
in fixing the price: $9.77 for mp3 and 16-bit, $14.65 for 24-bit.

If you don’t yet have a set of the later symphonies, especially the
last six, Nos. 35, 36 and 38-41, this is not the place to begin – early
Mozart symphonies are attractive but hardly memorable, as all Haydn’s
are.

Eugen
Jochum’s classic recording of the Linz comes in at under
27 minutes, not because he is faster than Belohlávek but because he
is far less liberal with repeats – in part, no doubt, because 26:43
was rather long for a single LP side back in the day. These are old-style
performances in the best sense – like Karl Böhm, Jochum never made Mozart
sound stodgy – and they were well worth rescuing. The recording, mono
only, is a trifle shrill but not excessively so.

The eclassical.com download is more expensive than that from classicsonline.com
but the lossless transfer makes it worth paying the extra ($8.75 against
£1.99). Sadly copyright laws mean that this download is not available
in the USA and several other countries.

For the crème de la crème of old-style Mozart symphonies you
need to turn to Bruno Walter, either his earlier mono set with the NYPO
or in decent stereo sound with the Columbia SO in a 6-CD box set Sony
Classical Masters – 88697906832. The 2-CD set of Nos.35-41 which
CBS issued in their latter days remains my benchmark for recordings
of these works other than the historically-informed.

Jiři Bělohlávek offers a penny-plain pair of performances
that sound somewhat old-fashioned now. If you are looking for a modern
recording of the Linz and Haffner I strongly suggest investing
in the Linn recording from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Sir Charles
Mackerras, where the best of period practice is matched to modern instruments
(CKD350, 2 CDs for the price of one, with Symphonies 29, 31 and
32 – Recording of the Month: April
2010 DL Roundup). Timings are only part of the story but Mackerras’s
livelier pacing of the first two movements of the Linz wins the
day, even though the two conductors take the other two movements at
about the same pace.

The eclassical.com price for Bělohlávek is a little higher than
you might expect to pay for the budget CD. If you are happy with mp3,
classicsonline.com offer the download for £4.99 – but caveat emptor:
they also have the older full-price version for £7.99. Neither offers
notes, but those included with HMA-series CDs tend to be rather sparse
anyway.

This
follows hard on the heels of Barry Douglas in D960, with the Wanderer
Fantasia (Chandos CHAN10807 – 2014/6).
First a warning: these are not entirely new recordings – D959 and 960
were formerly available on HMC901800. Admittedly that CD was praised
all round, but that’s hardly good cause for Harmonia Mundi to re-release
it with a pair of 2013 recordings, replacing Paul Lewis’s earlier accounts
of D784 and 958 on HMN911755, without making it clear what they have
done unless you consult the details at the end of the booklet*.

To make matters worse, while some dealers are charging as a 2-for-1
 as little as £10.25 from one dealer  eclassical.com
are asking $23.23 for mp3 and 16-bit lossless, with no 2-for-1 concession.
Similarly 7digital.com and amazon.co.uk are asking more for mp3 than
the latter are charging for the CDs. Caveat emptor unless someone
has a change of heart before you read this review  of which I'm
not hopeful because similar disparities, with the download more expensive
than the CD, even from the same retailer, occur all too often. A photo
of a cheery Paul Lewis with a basketful of piano hammers hardly compensates.

This set stands or falls with Lewis's interpretation of D960, one of
the works at the pinnacle of Schubert’s output and worthy to rank alongside
Beethoven's late piano sonatas. Much as I enjoyed this performance,
there are too many places where Lewis tries a little too hard for my
liking, with a ritardando here and a rubato there which
interrupt the flow of the music. As a result, the first two movements
seem over-long, though Lewis actually takes almost exactly the same
time for the latter as my benchmark performance from Clifford Curzon
(Decca E4750842, download in mp3 or flac from prestoclassical.co.uk or 4784389, 22CDs  download in mp3 from 7digital.com,
£28.99).

I know that I'm in a minority in having even small reservations about
Lewis's Schubert  see Kirk McElhearn’s review, above  so
I suggest sampling for yourself first from Naxos Music Library if you
can.

* See DL
News 2014/6 for a similar problem with the ‘new’ BIS recording from
Osmo Vänskä of Sibelius’Lemminkäinen Suite. As
a demonstration of how confusing what Harmonia Mundi have done is, Kirk
McElhearn  review above  originally thought that D784 and
D958 were reissues and D959 and D960 new  the reverse is true.

Discoveries of the Month
Henri (Henry Charles) LITOLFF (1818-1898) and the Scherzo

Hearing
the Scherzo from Litolff's Fourth Concerto Symphonique played on Classic FM, inevitably without the rest of the concerto, reminded
me that I had not yet reviewed the two recordings which Hyperion made
with Peter Donohoe, the Bournemouth SO* or the BBC Scottish SO** and
Andrew Litton of Concertos Nos. 2 in b minor, Op.22, and 4 in d minor,
Op.102 (including the famous Scherzo, CDA66889* [69:45]
 from hyperion-records.co.uk,
mp3 and lossless) and Nos. 3 in E-flat, Op.45, and 5 in c minor, Op.123
(CDA67210** [65:55]  from hyperion-records.co.uk,
mp3, 16- and 20-bit lossless). Both recordings, as is Hyperion's wont,
come with detailed pdf booklets, including details of Litolff's private
life, which was as hectic as the Scherzo.

If you like big warhorse concertos, you should enjoy the whole of No.4,
and No.2 is also well worth hearing. If, however, you already have a
recording of the Scherzo and don't wish to duplicate it, though it receives
as free-flying a performance here as you are ever likely to hear, I'd
recommend the second album, with Nos. 3 and 5. Both recordings are good
without sounding exaggeratedly hi-fi  Peter Donohoe's pianism
is hi-fi enough. CDA67210 comes in both 16- and 20-bit lossless.

I’ve
lost count of the number of recordings of Bruckner which Daniel Barenboim
has made on CD and DVD/blu-ray. Following earlier complete sets with
the Chicago SO (DG) and Berlin PO (Warner: Bargain of the Month – review),
these three symphonies mark the start of a new label from the Universal
stable, download only and named Peral (pear-tree) in homage to Barenboim
(= Birnbaum or Pear Tree in Yiddish).

Though I’m a Bruckner fan, this is not the place to start to get to
know his music – Nos. 4, 7 and 9 would be my first stops: you might
well think him rambling from No.1 in particular – but convinced Brucknerians
who have the mature symphonies might well be tempted. The Staatskapelle
Orchestra may not be able to match the BPO for sonority and the iTunes
bit-rate at around 265kb/s is hardly ideal for this expansive music
– experience suggests that the Amazon mp3 will be at a slightly lower
bit-rate still – but otherwise there is very little to choose between
these and Barenboim’s earlier versions. Tempi have tightened very slightly
since the DG recordings and a little more again since the Warner set.

The price is reasonable, at £10.99 (Amazon) or £11.99 (iTunes), but
don’t overlook the fact that the earlier complete sets are also available
inexpensively – at the time of writing the Warner 9-CD box of Symphonies
1-9 and Helgoland can be found for £17.32 or £15.99 as a download,
and the DG 10-set of Nos. 0-9, Te Deum, Psalm 150 and Helgoland for £24.37 (£19.99 as a download).

If, as he says, Barenboim truly wants to ‘get into the mentality of
the digital world’, he should insist that these and subsequent releases
should also be made available in lossless sound – ‘mastered for iTunes’
is not bad – hardly the worst offender by any means, but anything less
than 320kb/s is far from ideal.

Try hearing the eclassical.com download of Marcus Bosch’s performance
of No.2 (1872 ed. William Carragan) with the Aachen Symphony Orchestra
which Gavin Dixon made Recording
of the Month (Coviello COV31015 – review)
even in full-fat 320kb/s mp3 and you should be able to hear the difference
– even more so in the lossless version. As GD writes, the performance
may well make you wonder why this symphony is not rated more highly.

I’ve said that the Third, sometimes known as the ‘Wagner’ symphony,
approaches Bruckner’s mature style and Hyperion have just reissued their 2000 recording of the 1877 edition with the
1876 Adagio, from the BBC Scottish SO/Osmo Vänskä on the budget
Helios label in mp3 or lossless (CDH55474 ). The text of this
symphony is unduly complex and Vänskä’s choice of the long version of
the Adagio will not be to all tastes. Otherwise he makes a strong
case for the music and for a mere £4.99 this is a genuine bargain in
very good sound, especially the lossless version. As with all Hyperion
recordings, the pdf booklet is part of the deal.

For Bruckner’s first thoughts in his 1873 edition Jonathan Nott and
the Bamberg SO make a very strong case on Tudor 7133, a version
which I liked so much that I made the download the subject of a separate review on the main MusicWeb International pages. Passionato, from whom I obtained
it, are no longer in the download business but you’ll find this recording
in mp3 and lossless sound from eclassical.com.

Mariss Jansons’ live Concertgebouw Orchestra recording of the Third
symphony (1889, ed. Nowak) comes together with that of the Fourth (‘Romantic’)
on their own label, RCO09002, from eclassical.com in mp3, 16- and 24-bit lossless, complete with pdf booklet. You may
already have a fine version of the Romantic symphony but this
is well worth considering as an additional purchase to rival even classic
accounts listed below. The recordings piece together a number of evenings’
performances, from 7 and 8 February, 2007 (Third) and 17, 18, 19 and
21 September, 2008 (Fourth) but don’t sound at all disjointed.

As for the Fourth, my top choices remain Szell (CBS/Sony if you can
find a second-hand copy) Böhm (Decca),Wand (RCA – Bargain of the
Month : March
2010 DL Roundup*). and Jochum (DG Originals, with Sibelius Night
Ride and Sunrise, £4.99 from 7digital.com ).

* the Amazon download price is now a little higher, at £3.96. As the 7digital.com version comes in better, 320kb/s sound, go for that if you can catch
it while it’s also halved to £3.96. Otherwise sainsburysentertainment.co.uk at £6.99 offer the best price for
320kb/s.

In Download
News 2013/1 I recommended the complete set of the symphonies, including Manfred and with Capriccio Italien, from Mariss Jansons
and the Oslo PO (Chandos CHAN10392, 6 CDs). That set costs £23.97
in mp3, £29.97 in 16-bit lossless, £31.50 on CD and £39.52 in 24-bit
lossless.

I also liked the first three symphonies in performances by Neeme Järvi
with the Gothenburg SO (BIS-SACD-1398, 1418 and 1458)
but reserved my top recommendation in Nos. 4-6 for the 2-CD DG Originals
recording with the Leningrad PO and Evgeny Mravinsky (4775911 – download in mp3 or lossless from prestoclassical.co.uk).

Bargain hunters can obtain all the symphonies in downloads derived from
the BIS recordings made by Neeme Järvi for a mere £4.49 from amazon.co.uk.
Totalling seven and a half hours, the set includes all six ‘regular’
symphonies – no Manfred or reconstructed Seventh – and several
substantial fillers including Romeo and Juliet, Francesca
da Rimini and the Serenade for Strings. I can’t vouch for
the quality but Amazon’s similar conflation of the BIS recordings of
Sibelius averages around 230kb/s and sounds perfectly acceptable. Amazon.com have the same set for $5.99.

Regular
readers will be aware of my admiration for Clifford Curzon, in Schubert’s
last Piano Sonata, Trout Quintet, and the Grieg Piano Concerto
especially, so I’m naturally going to recommend that you obtain the
Decca recording listed above, which inevitably brings you the accompanying
selection of music from Peer Gynt, ten items in all, as opposed
to the eight contained in the two suites.

Curzon’s Grieg, however, is not the only show in town and if you have
another recording – Leif Ove Andsnes, for example on Warner/EMI – but
still lack Peer Gynt, there are three roads to go down. One is
to choose the complete music and Naxos can oblige here (8.570871/2,
with Bjarte Engeset in charge, as in the Suites – review);
another is to settle for the two Suites, from Naxos or BIS, and the
third is to go for a single-CD selection, as available, for example,
from Paavo Järvi (Virgin/Erato 5457222 [60:03], £3.49 from 7digital.com ). That middle way would be my normal choice for listening
to all the significant music, i.e. other than that which is inextricably
bound up with spoken dialogue. As usual with 7digital you will have
to re-number the tracks to play in the right order in any player other
than their own.

If you choose the second option, you could do much worse than go for
the Naxos recording – Göran Forsling thought it ‘undisputedly right’
– review – and I’m more inclined to agree with him than with Stephen Francis
Vasta, who had a few reservations – review.
I particularly enjoyed the performances of the orchestral songs, though
without memories of Kirsten Flagstad being effaced (Eloquence 4801804 – with Sibelius – review).
With good recording, albeit that it’s mp3 only, the Naxos would be £4.99
well spent. Eclassical.com have it in 16-bit lossless but, at $11.83,
it’s more expensive than buying the CD.

These
would not be my first choices for either work – that would be Karajan
with the BPO in both* – but for a mere £0.84 or less the album is well
worth trying.

William Boughton and the ESO made several recordings, mainly of British
music, for Nimbus in the latter days of LP and the early days of CD
– rarely rivalling the top recommendations but very good also-rans,
and that is the case here, the drawback being not so much the performances,
which capture the spirit of the music well, as the fact that the recording
is rather soupy. That’s an inherent problem with Verklärte Nacht,
which is why I usually prefer the sextet original, but the problem is
magnified by the acoustic here. By coincidence, the same coupling in
chamber versions appears on another Nimbus recording with the augmented
Brandis Quartet, NI5614 and that earned a 5/5-star review.
I hope to report on this in download form sometime soon.

Perhaps I’m being unfair on the recording – back in 1989 it received
a clean bill of health, so the low-bit emusic.com download may be to
blame.

The
first releases of Naxos recordings refurbished by 2xHD in 24-bit sound
which I reviewed last month all contained top-rate performances, well
worth hearing in improved transfers. The reissue of four early Mozart
symphonies this time – 2xHDNA2020 above – is also very worthwhile,
but I’m less sure about this reissue of two violin concertos and even
less sure about the Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, conducted by
Bela Drahos on 2xHDNA2025 – good run-of-the-mill performances
but hardly outstanding when the 24-bit downloads cost $20.75 and $21.01
respectively and even 16-bit cost $13.84/$14.00.

The Sibelius receives a passionate performance but not one to oust my
benchmark from Kavakos and Vänskä (BIS-CD-500) with both the
original and ‘normal’ versions. The Elgar, though idiomatic and enjoyable,
is even less likely to oust Nigel Kennedy in either of his EMI recordings,
with Vernon Handley at budget price (Classics for Pleasure 5751392)
or Simon Rattle (apparently no longer available except in a multi-CD
set or as a download: £5.99 from sainsburysentertainment.co.uk ).

The recordings have come up well, though you will need to raise the
volume several notches above your normal setting in the Sibelius. Keith
Anderson’s notes are well worth having but they can be obtained with
the Naxos releases.

Reflections: music for viola
Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941)
Sonata for Viola and Piano (1917) (arr. Martin Outram) [24:17] Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976)
Reflection (1930) [4:05]
Portrait No 2 ‘EBB’ (1930) (arr. Outram) [3:55] Lachrymae Op.48 Reflections on a song of Dowland (1950)
[13:25] Frank BRIDGE There is a willow grows aslant a brook (1927) (arr.
Britten, 1932) [8:05] Pensiero (1905 rev. 1907/8) [3:59] Allegro Appassionato (1907/08) [2:29] Benjamin BRITTEN Elegy (1930) [6:41]
Martin Outram (viola); Julian Rolton (piano)
rec. 16-18 November 2012, Wyastone Concert Hall. NIMBUS ALLIANCE NI6253 [67:29] – from emusic.com (mp3)
Not knowing any of the music other than Britten’s Dowland-based Lachrymæ,
and even that in the viola-and-orchestra version, I was tempted to download
this recording by Dominy Clements’ recent review – Recording of the Month. I’m very pleased that I did
so. It’s not all easy listening – the Bridge especially is emphatically
not in the English pastoral style, despite the idyllic promise of the
cover-shot – but the quality of the performances makes the effort worthwhile.

The emusic.com download comes at an attractive price (£4.20 or less)
and, albeit that the variable bit-rate averages around a less than ideal
220kb/s, it sounds more than acceptable. If you need lossless sound
and must have the booklet, which doesn’t come with the download, the
CD can be purchased direct from MusicWeb International – here – for £9 post-paid at the time of writing.

This
recording is due for release on CD on 27 May, 2014 but available for
download in advance.

Last year Nick Barnard made Juanjo Mena’s earlier Turina recording of Danza fantásticas and other works a Recording of the Month ( CHAN10753 – review).
His only regret was that there wasn’t much more Turina for them to record,
but here we have four other works and none of them is scraping the bottom
of the barrel, especially when as well performed and recorded as they
are here.

Some of these works appear on a budget Regis CD costing around £5.50
– downloads are likely to cost more! – and performed by Mexico City
Philharmonic/Enrique Batiz, which I reviewed some time ago: Rapsodia
sinfónica and La Procesion del Rocio with Danzas fantásticas,Sinfonia
Sevillana and La Oración del torero (RRC1299 – review)
and that’s also well worth considering, especially at the price.

The earlier Turina/Mena recording on CHAN10753 is also available
in mp3 and lossless from theclassicalshop.net and both can be sampled from Naxos Music Library.

I
meant to have included this alongside my review of the new Chandos recording
of Bowen’s chamber music in DL
News 2014/6 but that got too big on me, despite promises that I
wouldn’t let my musings get over-long again, and I ran out of time.
In fact there’s little that I need to add to what four colleagues wrote
pretty exhaustively in 2002 – here – and 2003 – here – other than to say that the least expensive download, from emusic.com,
albeit at a lowish bit-rate (c.225 kb/s) sounds fine, though the classicsonline.com
at 320 kb/s is no doubt worth the extra and the lossless eclassical.com
better still (£2.94, £7.99 and $12.53 respectively).

Eclassical.com also offer York Bowen’s Cello Sonata in A, Op.64, with Cello Sonatas
by John Foulds (Op.6) and Ernest Walker (in f minor, Op.41) on another
British Music Society release (BMS423CD Jo Cole and John Talbot
[81:10]). As Trevor Hold wrote in 2001 – review – the performances are committed and musicianly. Two small problems
with the download – there are no notes and the programme is over-long
to burn to CD unless you settle for mp3, in which case the emusic.com price of £3.78 may prove more attractive.

Carl ORFF (1895-1982) Carmina Burana (1936)

There
must be almost as many recordings of Carmina Burana in the catalogue
as there are of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. They have recently been
joined by Hans Graf conducting Sarah Tynan (soprano), Andrew Kennedy
(tenor), Rodion Pogossov (baritone), Trinity Boys Choir, London Philharmonic
Choir and London Philharmonic Orchestra on the LPO label (LPO-0076 – review and full details). With small reservations Gwyn Parry-Jones thought
this a superb issue alongside his favourite versions from Eugen Jochum
(DG), Marin Alsop (Naxos) and David Hill (Virgin, now Warner Erato).
The new recording now joins my own favourites: Eugen Jochum and Rafael
Frühbeck de Burgos – see below.

Having downloaded the new recording from eclassical.com (mp3 and lossless, with pdf booklet containing texts and translations)
I thought it time to recap on those which I’ve reviewed before and add
one or two more:

 DG Originals 4474372: Gundula Janowitz (soprano) Gerhard
Stolze (tenor) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Chor und Orchester
der Deutschen Oper Berlin/Eugen Jochum [56:03]. Through all the time
that I have known this recording, released in 1968 to replace Jochum’s
earlier mono version, it has been my joint benchmark. It still sounds
very well even in the 320kb/s download from 7digital.com, but it’s no
longer the bargain that it was – at £8.49 where DG Originals normally
cost £4.99 from this source, it’s over £1 more expensive than the CD
from Amazon. The 16- and 24-bit lossless refurbishment from linnrecords.com sounds even better – review by Dan Morgan – but it’s no longer available in the UK. The DG shop
also charge almost as much for the mp3 download (£7.49) as for the CD
(£7.99) and £1 more for the lossless download (£8.99). Somehow the economic
sense of all that eludes me.

 The situation with my other long-term benchmark is even more
frustrating: the 1966 recording with Lucia Popp, Gerhard Unger, Raymond
Wolansky, John Noble, Wandsworth School Boys’ Choir, New Philharmonia
Chorus and Orchestra/Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is available on disc
only as part of a 16-CD set,20th-Century Masterpieces.
It can, however, be downloaded in EMI Encore garb for just £2.99 with
Stravinsky’s Fireworks and Circus Polka from sainsburysentertainment.co.uk [67:57] – but NB more crazy economics:
they also offer the same download for £6.99 and with Ravel’s Boléro instead of the Stravinsky, for £12.99.

 Warner/EMI Masters 6787042: Sheila Armstrong (soprano),
Gerald English (tenor), Thomas Allen (baritone), St Clement Danes Grammar
School Boys’ Choir London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/André Previn.
This has been around the block a few times – this is its second appearance,
with a different cover, on EMI Masters – but it’s still many people’s
favourite and I rate it only a little below Jochum and Burgos – see September
2011 Download Roundup. The download from classicsonline.com which
I reviewed is no longer available – they seem to have ‘lost’ all their
Warner, EMI and Virgin downloads, though these remain available for
streaming from their sister site, Naxos Music Library. Download the
earlier GROC reissue from sainsburysentertainment.co.uk for £4.99; they also have the EMI
Masters for £5.99 but both appear to offer the same 1997 re-mastering.

 Chandos CHSA/CHAN5067: Christopher Maltman (baritone),
Laura Claycomb (soprano), Barry Banks (tenor), Tiffin Boys’ Choir; London
Symphony Chorus; London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Hickox – rec. live
Barbican Centre, London, November 2007 [60:37] – from theclassicalshop.net (mp3, 16- and 24-bit lossless and surround sound, with pdf booklet).
Having owned Richard Hickox’s earlier recording on the budget IMP/Pickwick
label, briefly reissued by Regis, I expected this to rival my benchmarks
and in one important respect, its availability in 24/96 sound, to exceed
them. Dan Morgan was less than impressed – review – but it’s been highly rated elsewhere. Who’s right? It’s certainly
a sonic spectacular with a wide dynamic range, yet there’s also a sense
that the engineers have not quite tamed the damping-down effect of the
Barbican acoustics. You’ll need to turn the volume up to get a sense
of presence, but that means that the loud passages are very loud indeed.
More seriously, though we seem to be swimming against the tide, I’m
inclined to agree with Dan that although it has its moments this version
comes to life only intermittently in performance terms. Less well known
than the Orff work, the original medieval Carmina Burana, so
called through their association with the monastery at Benediktbeuern
exist in manuscript and there have been several recordings of parts
of the collection:

 Warner Teldec Das Alte Werk 2564697659 offers a lower-mid-price
2-CD set from Thomas Binkley and the Studio der frühen Musik. Though
somewhat long in the tooth (rec. 1964) this remains the largest single
set of the music. I can’t find a download source, but you can stream
from Naxos Music Library.

 Naxos 8.554837 – Oni Wytars Ensemble and Ensemble Unicorn
[59:07] – from eclassical.com (mp3 and lossless, no booklet) or classicsonline.com (mp3, with booklet) or stream from Naxos Music Library (with booklet).
Eloquentia and Naxos overlap with each other to some extent and both
to a greater extent with the Warner. Both are well worth hearing but
there is no doubt which I prefer – the Naxos is much the livelier and
my only reservation is that half of this album has been raided for the
3-CD set Time of the Templars which I recommended some time ago
– review – and on an earlier compilation The World of Early Music.

If
you thought of Alan Bush as a tough composer to love, this recording
of the Second Symphony, which wouldn’t be out of place as a film score
– the movements are Sherwood Forest, Clifton Grove, Castle
Rock and Goose Fair – may help to change your mind. There’s
just one rival recording, with the First Symphony on Classico CLASSCD484 – download from classicsonline.com for £4.99 or stream from Naxos Music Library. (Recording of the
Month – review).

The Communist sub-text, implicit in the reference to Robin Hood in the
symphony, is explicit in the Fantasia on Soviet Themes, though
the work dates from the war years when ‘Uncle Joe’ was the ally of the
UK and US. Forget the sub-text and enjoy the music in these attractive
performances.

The emusic.com transfer averages around 240kb/s – more than adequate
– and I doubt if you’ll get much higher bit-rates from iTunes or Amazon,
where you will certainly pay more than £3.36, but I’ve listed them if
you don’t have an account with emusic.com. No booklet from any download
source, just brief notes available on the Dutton
website.

‘It’s
very good that these pieces have been made available on disc for they
are well worth investigating. So far as I can tell – the music is all
new to me – Standford’s music has been extremely well served by the
Royal Scottish National Orchestra and that doughty champion of unfamiliar
British music, David Lloyd-Jones. The sound quality is extremely good.’
See review by John Quinn.

The discography of Patric Standford, who died on 22 April 2014, is very
small – apart from some short pieces on concert albums, including a
walk-on part on the Naxos CD of Hely- Hutchinson’s Carol Symphony, this
is it in the UK catalogue at present. The MusicWeb International search
engine won’t even believe what you want and will re-direct you to Stanford
instead.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Standford’s works sometimes appear
on collections of light music – the Symphony is not an easy listen by
any means, but it’s worth persevering with when it’s as well performed
and recorded as it is here. Full marks to the British Music Society
for bringing us these recordings.

Two
‘monodramas’ as Argento calls them – short operas, each for a single
singer, though there are other silent parts in Miss Havisham.
The first features a lecturer cajoled by his wife into giving an inept
talk on Water Birds, complete with many deviations, musical quotations
and bird-sound illustrations. The second imagines the moment when Miss
Havisham, already in her wedding gown, heard that she had been jilted
– an episode long in the past by the time that we encounter her in Dickens’
novel Great Expectations and supposedly based on a real character,
a Miss Donnithorne of Sydney. If anything Dickens toned down the more
bizarre aspects of the story.

The music is conservative in form – the prologue to Britten’s Billy
Budd comes to mind on hearing the first work – and the performances
good, as far as I can judge with no benchmarks.

The CD appears to be unavailable in the UK – one seller is asking £29.61
on Amazon, so the emusic.com price of £0.84 makes this a real bargain.
There’s no libretto but the diction is clear enough. The recording sounds
more than acceptable but the bit-rate averages only 180kb/s, which is
unacceptably low when most providers now offer at least 256kb/s and
many the full 320kb/s.

CDLX7261: this or the Toccata piano album (below), would be a good starting point
for anyone wishing to get to know David Matthews’ music. That’s not
to say that the music is immediately approachable – very little of his
output is – but it repays repeated hearing. For really approachable
music try the Chandos recording listed at the end of this review.

The Amazon download comes at a bit-rate averaging around 224kb/s, which
is far from ideal; though the sound is acceptable as it happens, it
really is time that the maximum mp3 rate of 32-kb/s became the norm
for Amazon and iTunes, as it is now for most other download providers.

CDLX7035 : If I wanted to hear Evensong or Vespers in quiet contemplation at
Westminster Abbey or Cathedral I wouldn’t choose to hear David Matthews’
challenging setting, but if it’s something very different from plainsong,
polyphony or Anglican chant that you are looking for and you’re in the
mood to do more than sit back and be entertained, this is the recording
to do it. If anything, these settings of the antiphon Alma Redemptoris
Mater, the psalm Laudate pueri and the Magnificat,
sandwiched between English texts – the Light shouts in your Tree-top and All will grow great and powerful again – are more powerful
than the one-movement symphony. Though Dutton’s reference to Sibelius’
Seventh Symphony in their publicity material is not misplaced, all the
music here is far from comfortable to hear. Performances are presumably
idiomatic and the mp3 download from emusic.com, at around 240kb/s, more
than acceptable and this is your least expensive download at £3.36,
but there are no notes from any source.

TOCC0166 : though the Piano Concerto, perhaps fortuitously, carries a significant
Opus number – that of one of Beethoven’s late barn-storming piano sonatas
– it’s a comparatively straightforward and immediately likeable work
with only a few tougher aspects, the comparison which Matthews himself
makes in the notes being with Mozart rather than Beethoven. Like the
Dutton concerto recording, this too would make a good introduction to
his music, though the solo works, even the final One to Tango, are
mostly a tougher proposition than the concerto.

There’s no booklet with the eclassical.com download – your least expensive
source for a lossless version: don’t even dream of paying £14.70 for
mp3 from emusic.com – but subscribers to Naxos Music Library can preview
the music there and download the booklet, which is also available from
the Toccata
website. You can find this and plenty more of Matthews’ music on
the Toccata website, including his String Quartets (Volume 1: TOCC0058 –review;
Volume 2: TOCC0059 – review).
Toccata recordings are also available on CD from MusicWeb
International for £10.50 p.p. worldwide.

One final recommendation: Hubert Culot made the Chandos recording of
Matthews’ Orchestral Music on CHAN10487 a Recording of
the Month – review – and I also thought it captivating – March
2009 DL Roundup.

Recordings by Les Siècles conducted by François-Xavier Roth

Les Siècles is a chamber-size orchestra who perform on period instruments
for a number of recording labels. That’s not too revolutionary these
days, but much of the works that they perform are much more recent than
what we normally think of when referring to period practice.

Georges
BIZET’s (1838-1875) charming Symphony in C (1855,
but never published or performed in Bizet’s lifetime) [35:17] and Jeux
d’Enfants, Op.22 (1872) [10:02] are coupled with Emmanuel CHABRIER’s (1841-1894)Suite pastorale [19:42] on Mirare MIR036 [65:01]. The download from eclassical.com is available in mp3 and lossless and it comes with the pdf booklet.
The performances would not be my first choice for any of the works but
if the programme appeals you won’t be sold short by the stylish direction
and playing. It’s just that Beecham (Warner-EMI 5672312 or 9099322,
6 CDs) outshines everybody else in the Bizet – see my review of Paavo Järvi with the Orchestre de Paris on Virgin. The recording,
made in January 2007, is a touch over-immediate but not to the extent
that it’s a problem; the Chabrier sounds better – and maybe it’s the
use of instruments from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
as itemised in the booklet, that account for the sound.

If you are looking for an alternative to Beecham from much the same
vintage and at a budget price, Hallmark have reissued Ansermet’s performance
of the Bizet Symphony, Jeux d’Enfants Suite and Jolie Fille
de Perth Suite, available from emusic.com for just £2.52 – see DL
News 2013/8.

Claude
DEBUSSY’s Première Suite pour orchestre (1882-4) [27:15]
is coupled with La Mer [23:18] on Musicales Actes Sud ASM10 [50:33]. The recently discovered (2008) Première Suite receives
its first recording: two of the movements were orchestrated by Debussy,
the rest exists in piano duet score, effectively orchestrated for this
recording by Philippe Manoury. There are some clear advantages in having
period instruments for this live performance – predictably in the winds
and brass – but I wouldn’t make too big an issue of it. It’s really
the Suite that makes this so attractive – La Mer receives a good
performance but, with so many first-class versions on the market, hardly
a revelatory one.

In common with most recordings on this label the playing time is mean
but the price from eclassical.com ($9.10 for mp3 and lossless) compensates. There’s no booklet but there
are some notes in French on the web page.

***

Music of the Kingdom
The Sixteen/Harry Christophers
pdf booklet with texts and translations included CORO COR16122 [75:14] – from thesixteen.com (mp3, aac and lossless)

I’ve
had cause to complain several times recently about ‘new’ recordings
which were not wholly new – see Schubert Late Piano Sonatas (above),
but this recording contains only one new 3-minute track. It opens with
Handel’s Zadok the Priest and ends with Let thy hand be strengthened,
both from The Sixteen’s recording of the Coronation Anthems (COR16066)
and includes music by Tomkins (CORSACD16016), Tallis – including
the alternative, English version of Spem in alium (CORSACD16016)
and Sanctus (COR16038) – Byrd (newly recorded), Britten
(COR16038), Purcell (COR16024), Turges (COR16026),
Ramsey (COR16010), Carver (COR16051), Gibbons (CORSACD16016)
and the ‘Club’ Anthem jointly composed by Humfrey, Blow and Turner (COR16041).

All these are recommendable or highly recommendable albums and I’ve
welcomed several of them in these pages, alluding to the Handel on COR16066
as recently as the previous DL News, but it may well be that you have
most or even all of them already. If so, and you would like the new
recording of Byrd’sO Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth on track
4, I’d suggest downloading that on its own (£0.99 in 320kb/s mp3 from 7digital.com).
You’ll miss out on the booklet but that should be available from Naxos
Music Library soon; when it is, you should also find a link to purchase
the track from classicsonline.com.

All the music on COR16022 is associated with English and Scottish kings
from the time of the coronation of the infant James V onwards, but the
purpose of the album as a whole is to celebrate the tercentenary of
the accession of George I, the first of the Hanoverian monarchs, in
1714. In this it competes with the new all-Handel recording from Clare
College and the EU Baroque Orchestra on Obsidian CD711 which
I reviewed in DL
News 2014/6, though only the two Coronation Anthems overlap – the
whole set is included on Obsidian.

No
complaints about old wine in new bottles for this, the second in The
Sixteen’s series of explorations of Polish music with Associate Conductor
Eamonn Dougan at the helm. I would, however, suggest that it’s a mistake
to offer only lossy versions (mp3 and aac) for a reasonable £7.99 and
24-bit lossless (alac and flac) for a rather expensive £16.50 – most
download sites who offer 24-bit also include a 16-bit version at an
in-between price of around £10. If you want to burn a CD you’ll have
to go for the mp3 – it’s not possible to burn 24-bit recordings unless
you have special equipment to burn audio DVDs. Earlier Coro recordings
are available from theclassicalshop.net in mp3 and 16-bit lossless;
if you wait a little longer, you may find a 16-bit version of the new
recording there, too.

Many years ago, I sent an email to Robert von Bahr, the head of BIS
records, saying that I wasn’t familiar with a lot of Scandinavian music,
other than Sibelius. I asked him to recommend five recordings of his
that I should check out. One of them was a disc by Eduard Tubin, containing
Symphony no. 5 and the Suite from the Ballet Kratt. I enjoyed
it a great deal, but never went further in exploring Tubin’s work.

BIS is currently offering a special “bundle” on their eClassical site
of all of Tubin’s symphonies, and that prompted me to check them out.
For less than $30 (or £20), you get 5 CDs containing the ten symphonies,
the Suite and an early work, Toccata.

MusicWeb has already reviewed this set when it was issued on CD in 2003;
read reviews by John
Quinn and Rob
Barnett . John Quinn said, “Eduard Tubin’s symphonies constitute
a significant contribution to twentieth century symphonic literature.”

I’ve only just dipped into this set, but I strongly recommend taking
advantage of this bundle. If you like big, bold post-romantic works,
reminiscent of Sibelius, Vaughan-Williams and Shostakovitch, then you’ll
love this music. Tubin was a great orchestrator, and his music, which
evolves a great deal from the time the first symphony was written to
the last, (1931 - 1973), is never short of exhilarating. Sometimes,
as Rob Barnett says, it is “predominantly dark or chilly,” but nothing
at all like Allan Petterson; more like Holmboe, or even Grieg.

If you like the symphony, and have never heard Eduard Tubin, you shouldn’t
miss this chance to get his ten symphonies at such a great price. The
recordings are clear and sharp, and the price is right.
Kirk McElhearn